HORSE. 



799 



in the following year two above and two below, one 

 namely on each side of the nippers, are also thrown 

 off ; at four years and a half other four ; next those 

 last placed fall out ; and are succeeded by other four, 

 which grow much more slowly. From these last 

 four corner teeth it is that the animal's age is distin- 

 guished, for they are somewhat hollowed in the 

 middle, and have a black mark in the cavities. At 

 five years old, these teeth scarcely rise above the 

 gums ; at six, their hollow pits begin to fill up, and 

 turn to a brown spot, like the eye of a garden bean ; 

 and before eight years the mark generally disap- 

 pears. A horse's age is also indicated by the tusks, 

 for those in the .under jaw generally shoot at three 

 years and a half; and the two in the upper at four ; 

 till six they continue sharp at the points ; but at ten 

 they appear long and blunted. But artful dealers 

 and jockeys have a method of burning and staining 

 horses' teeth, which may deceive the unwary, and 

 this method is called Bishoping, in their cant lan- 

 guage. At the age of two years, the horse is in a 

 condition to propagate. The mare is generally in 

 heat or in season, from the latter end of March till 

 the beginning of June, but her most violent ardours 

 only continue fifteen or twenty days. She carries 

 her young eleven months and some days ; continues 

 to breed till the age of sixteen or eighteen years, and 

 lives on an average between twenty and thirty years. 

 The foal is capable of taking solid food at four 

 months, and may be weaned at six and seven. In 

 its fourth year, the fore feet may be shod, and the 

 hind feet six months after. The horse is, strictly 

 speaking, an herbivorous animal, and is more 

 scrupulous in the choice of his food than most other 

 domestic quadrupeds ; in the meadow rejecting 

 several plants which the ox devours with pleasure. 

 In Sweden it has been calculated that he eats 262 

 kinds of herbs, and rejects 212. Marshy pastures 

 are not friendly to his constitution ; and he is apt to 

 indulge too greedily in succulent herbage, particu- 

 larly in clover and lucerne. He is fond of salt, 

 bread, and malt liquors ; and what is extraordinary, 

 the horses of South America sometimes even eat 

 animal food that of bullocks, for instance. He 

 sleeps only four or six hours out of the twenty-four, 

 and frequently in a standing posture. He is apt to 

 be easily startled at loud or unpleasant sounds, and 

 at the sight of unexpected objects, especially at the 

 dead body of one of his own species. If properly 

 treated, he may live to the age of forty or fifty years. 

 Wonderful instances are related of his extraordinary 

 sagacity and affection, of his social and gregarious 

 disposition, his love of home and his master, and his 

 wonderful docility. See Horsemanship. 



In England, the breeding of horses has reached a 

 degree of perfection which is unknown elsewhere ; 

 and the fleetness of English horses is scarcely credi- 

 ble. Thus the celebrated Childers ran four miles in 

 six minutes and forty-eight seconds, carrying at the 

 same time a weight of 9 stone, 2 pounds. In 1745, 

 the postmaster of Stilton rode on different horses 

 along the London road, 215 miles, in eleven hours 

 and a half; being more than 18 miles an hour. The 

 utmost speed of an English trotter is considered to be 

 a mile in about two minutes fifty-seven seconds ; a 

 rate which was performed some years ago by a road- 

 ster called Archer, belonging to Tom Marsden, the 

 dealer. 



The London drag horses are rather remarkable 

 for mass and weight than for hardiness or vivacity. 

 The Suffolk punches, as they are called, excel in 

 drawing dead pulls. Five of these horses once drew 

 thirty sacks of barley over the deep sandy road 

 between Walton and Ipswich ; and one belonging 

 lo Mr Constable of East Berghott, drew in a cart 



ten sacks of flour, each weighing twenty stone and a 

 half, for five or six miles on a heavy road. The 

 Clydesdale horses are celebrated as the best draught 

 horses in Britain. They are larger than the Suffolk 

 punch, and the neck is somewhat longer ; they 

 possess all the essential points for heavy draught, 

 and are besides extremely docile. The principal 

 markets at which they are sold are those of Lanark, 

 Carnwath, Rutherglen, and Glasgow. Their quick 

 step adds greatly to their value. The mountain 

 poneys of Wales and Scotland are small, but extreme- 

 ly hardy, durable, and sure-footed. The Shelties of 

 Shetland and Orkney, though only from nine to 

 eleven hands in height, brave the rigours of these 

 northern climes, and are excellently calculated for 

 the rugged fastnesses of their native land. 



Without the horse, it may be asserted, that man 

 could not have reached his present pitch of civiliza- 

 tion, nor have been able to overcome the numerous 

 obstacles to comfort and happiness. The want of 

 these animals was one of the principal causes which 

 rendered the aboriginal inhabitants of America so 

 inferior to their invaders ; and the decided superior- 

 ity of the whites over the Indians, was owing almost 

 as much to the horse as to the knowledge of fire- 

 arms. In fact, next to the want of iron, the want 

 of horses is, perhaps, one of the greatest physi- 

 cal obstacles to the advancement of the arts of civi- 

 lized life. During the age of chivalry, no knight or 

 gentleman would ride upon a mare, as it was thought 

 dishonourable and degrading. No sufficient reason 

 has been assigned for this singular custom. During 

 that time, the breeds of horses most in repute, were 

 those of Normandy and Flanders, from their great 

 size and strength. When gunpowder was invented, 

 however, from the heavy coats of mail being laid 

 aside, this description of horse was consigned to the 

 wagoner, and sedulous attention paid to animals ot 

 a lighter and more active character. Various tables 

 have at different times been drawn up, as to the 

 proper proportions of a horse, none of which have 

 been found correct. The celebrated English horse 

 Eclipse was neither handsome nor well proportioned, 

 according to these rules, yet for speed and strength, 

 the mechanism of his frame was almost perfect. An 

 old writer, Camerarius, says, a perfect horse should 

 have the breast broad, the hips round, and the mane 

 long, the countenance fierce like a lion, a nose like 

 a sheep, the head, legs, and skin of a deer, the throat 

 and neck of a wolf, and the ear and tail of a fox. 



The wild mule (E. hemionos} in its size and general 

 appearance, is not unlike the common mule, the pro- 

 geny of the horse and ass. Its head is large, fore- 

 head flat, becoming narrow towards the extremity of 

 the nose ; ears longer than those of the horse, and 

 lined with a thick coat of whitish hair. The limbs 

 are long and finely shaped. There is an oval callus 

 within the fore legs, but none on the hinder. The 

 hoofs are small, smooth, and black , the tail naked 

 for one half of its length, and covered on the other 

 by long hairs. The hair is of a brown ash colour, 

 very long in winter, but short in summer. There is 

 a blackish testaceous line extending from the mane 

 along the ridge of the back to the tail. The height 

 of this animal is about three feet nine inches ; length 

 six feet. It was well known to the ancient natur- 

 alists. Aristotle, who terms it hemionos, or half ass, 

 says it was found in Syria ; and Pliny, on the authority 

 of Theophrastus, says it also occurred in Cappadocia. 

 It is no longer an inhabitant of these countries, only 

 being found in Tartary, where they chiefly frequent 

 the country around the lake Taricnoor. They live, 

 in herds, consisting of mares and colts, with an old 

 male : these herds seldom contain more than twenty . 

 The foal attains its growth in its third year, at which 



